Abrasive cleanser and method of scouring surfaces



United States Patent 0 ABRASIVE CLEANSER AND METHOD OF SCOURING SURFACES Alfred C. Houser, Barrington, Ill.

No Drawing. Application March 16, 1953, Serial No. 342,721

4 Claims. (Cl. 51-304) This invention relates to an abrasive cleanser and to a method of scouring surfaces.

Scouring compounds employing abrasives mixed with soap or other detergents are used extensively for the cleaning of kitchen utensils, lavatories, sink and bathtub surfaces, etc. Such cleaning compositions often clean areas in streaks, removing the dirt, etc. from certain portions but leaving other uncleaned area's.

Further, there is often left on the surface of the sink, bathtub, etc., a portion of the grimy material which is unobserved and not removed. Because of the difficulty of observing the action of the cleaner material, it is easy to omit certain areas, and further, there is no sure means for indicating Whether or not any particular area has been thoroughly cleaned.

An object of the present invention is to provide an abrasive cleanser in which the area being cleaned is demarked clearly and which requires a definite minimum of cleaning before visible evidence thereon is removed. Another object is to provide a stain-forming or colorproviding material in an abrasive detergent cleaner which is dispersed efiectively over an area and clings to the dirt and other particles thereon, whereby the effect of the abrasive is spread over a wide area in the removing of the film and material clinging thereto. Other specific objects and advantages will appear as the specification proceeds.

In one preferred embodiment of the invention, 1 cmploy an ordinary abrasive cleanser consisting of any fine abrasive material, together with soap or other detergent material, and combine therewith a powdered ultramarine blue. The abrasive cleanser may contain other ingredients, such as water softeners, builders, foamers, etc. The ultramarine blue powder is used in sufiicient quantity to make the final powdered mixture visibly blue colored, preferably having a pale blue appearance. From .1 to 2 parts by weight of the ultramarine blue can be used per 100 parts of the abrasive cleanser, but the preferred amount will usually fall within the range from .3 to 1 part by weight of the ultramarine blue per 100 parts of the cleanser. With most commercially available cleansers excellent results have been obtained at ratios of .6 to .7 part of ultramarine blue per 100 parts of cleanser. While in dry form, the ultramarine blue does not affect the other powdered ingredients of the cleaner, and the mixture may be shipped in various types of containers as such cleaners are normally shipped.

In the use of the composition, when the light blue powder mixture is sprinkled upon a surface and the water applied thereto, a vivid blue film appears to be formed over the area to which the powder is applied, and this spreads rapidly as the cleaner is moved over the surface. The ultramarine blue forms a thin film over the area, indicating generally the area to be cleaned; and the film attaches itself with tenacity to dirt spots, etc., on the surface, indicating particularly the material to be removed from the surface. Upon the further application of water and rubbing, the area is freed of the cleaner and 2,708,157 Patented May 10, 1955 also of the film, but a certain minimum of scouring is required to remove the blue film. A clear, attractive surface is produced after the removal of the material and the color of the clean surface is sharpened or brightened.

The addition of ultramarine blue to any formulation of dry, finely ground abrasives combined with detergent materials (commonly identified as scouring or abrasive cleansers) demonstrates marked new performance characteristics which increase the cleaning efficiency of such compounds. These added characteristics include an apparent aflinity of the ultramarine blue pigment for grease, dirt and soil, making it visible on any surface. Ultramarine blue further appears to have a disintegrating action on such grease, dirt and soil which make these substances more readily dispersible in water, so that any.

abrasive employed in a cleanser compound more readily removes it from the surface to which it is attached, requiring less work by the user. The ultramarine blue also acts as an abrasive in the scouring operation.

The abrasive cleaner may be of any suitable composition. It may contain fine sand, emery, crushed pumice, chalk, or other water-insoluble abrasive material. The abrasive material is mixed with soap or other suitable detergents Soda soaps, potash soaps, formed from animal oils such as tallow, grease, or from vegetable oils such as coconut, cottonseed, corn, soya, pound kernel, and olive oils may be used. Fish and whale oil may also be used. The soaps formed from fatty acids having between 10 and 18 carbon atoms are found useful. Instead of such soaps, sulphated alcohols, sulfonates, sulphoacetates may be employed. Sulfonated alkyl benzene compounds are useful. A variety of substances may be used with the soap or detergent for sudsing, detergenc'y, surface tension lowering, wetting, and emulsifying, curd and gel formation effects. Buildings such as sodium silicate, sodium carbonate, trisodium phosphate, and various phosphates may be used. In combining the ultramarine blue with the abrasive cleaners, I prefer to employ a powdered ultramarine blue in combination with a chalk carrier. The material in finely-ground condition is mixed with the abrasive cleaner material until the mass attains a light blue color.

In some of the abrasive cleaner compositions, a fine abrasive such as sand, rottenstone, etc., may be mixed in equal proportions with a soap powder, and the ultramarine blue then added as a powder to give the entire mixture a light blue appearance. When the ultramarine blue is added in sufiicient quantity to give the white mass a light blue appearance, it is found that there is sufficient quantity of the ultramarine blue with the material to eifect a rapid dispersion and to form the film as above described. The abrasive cleaner, instead of forming lumps, quickly breaks up into an even coating as a result of the dispersing properties of the ultramarine blue, while at the same time the ultramarine blue forms its continuous film over relatively wide areas. Cleaning of the surface is facilitated as the abrasive engages the film and draws portions of the film with impurities clinging thereto away from the surface.

This invention is further illustrated by the following specific examples, which set forth the ingredients of typical abrasive or scouring cleansers and indicate the preferred amount of ultramarine blue to be used therewith:

Example II Parts by weight Hard soap, powdered 7 Sodium metaphosphate Sodium carbonate 8 Trisodium phosphate 5 Neuberg chalk (or partially substituted kieselguhr or pumice) 75 Ultramarine blue .6-.7

Example III Ounces Trisodium phosphate Soap, powdered 25 Fine abrasive (chalk) Ultramarine blue 1 Example IV Parts by weight Pumice powder (fine) Soap powder (30%) 30 Trisodium phosphate 10 Ultramarine blue .5

While in the foregoing description, I have set forth specific compositions in detail for the purpose of illustrating modifications of the invention, it will be understood that such details may be varied widely by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim:

1. A household-type abrasive cleanser in the form of a dry powder, comprising essentially a mixture of waterinsoluble abrasive material and a detergent material, both said abrasive material and said detergent material being light in color and suitable for use in scouring the surfaces of household objects such as bathtubs and kitchen utensils, and containing from .1 to 2 parts by weight of powdered, water-dispersible ultramarine blue per parts of said mixture.

, ing a brighter blue when contacted with water.

3. The method of scouring a surface characterized by distributing an abrasive cleanser over said surface together with sufficient ultramarine blue to visibly color said 0 cleanser, wetting the area to which said cleanser and ultramarine blue is applied to disperse said ultramarine blue and thereby color said area blue, and scouring said area until said blue color substantially disappears.

4. The method of scouring a surface characterized by distributing a mixture of an abrasive cleanser and ultra marine blue over a soiled surface, said mixture containing from .3 to 1 part by weight of ultramarine blue per 100 parts by weight of cleanser, wetting the area to which said mixture is applied to disperse the ultramarine blue and stain the soiled portions of said surface a bright blue with the rest of said area being stained a lighter blue, and scrubbing said area until the blue color thereof substantially disappears.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 894,371 Dreessen et al. July 28, 1908 1,443,660 Stephenson Jan. 30, 1923 1,452,093 Pollack Apr. 17, 1923 1,763,937 Stiewater June 17, 1930 1,845,250 Driscoll Feb. 16, 1932 2,456,263 Flatt Dec. 14, 1948 

1. A HOUSEHOLD-TYPE ABRASIVE CLEANSER IN THE FORM OF A DRY POWDER, COMPRISING ESSENTIALLY A MIXTURE OF WATERINSOLUBLE ABRASIVE MATERIAL AND SAID DETERGENT MATERIAL, BOTH SAND ABRASIVE MATERIAL AND SAID DETERGENT MATERIAL BEING LIGHT IN COLOR AND SUITABLE FOR USE IN SCOURING THE SURFACES OF HOUSEHOLD OBJECTS SUCH AS BATHTUBS AND KITCHEN UTENSILS, AND CONTAINING FROM .1 TO 2 PARTS BY WEIGHT OF POWDERED, WATER-DISPERSIBLE UTRAMARINE BLUE PER 100 PARTS OF SAID MIXTURE.
 3. THE METHOD OF SCOURING A SURFACE CHARACTERIZED BY DISTRIBUTING AN ABRASIVE CLEANSER OVER SAID SURFACE TOGETHER WITH SUFFICIENT ULTRAMARINE BLUE TO VISIBLY COLOR SAID CLEANSER, WETTING THE AREA TO WHICH SAID CLEANSER AND ULTRAMARINE BLUE IS APPLIED TO DISPERSE SAID ULTRAMARINE BLUE AND THEREBY COLOR SAID AREA BLUE, AND SCOURING SAID AREA UNTIL SAID BLUE COLOR SUBSTANTIALLY DISPPEARS. 